by Kimberly French, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Kimberly French

Louisville, KY — He is the 12th foal out of a 100 percent producer, but his owner and conditioner feel that Armbro Nectarine might very well have saved her best genetic contribution for last when it comes to 2015 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes champion Ideal Jimmy.

“Every foal she had was a winner,” said D R Van Witzenburg, the 3-year-old gelding’s owner/breeder. “They all could pace and this one is an absolute runt. He’s the smallest foal from her, but he has the heart. You can’t breed or train that into them. He is all desire and he just wants to win.”

The son of Western Ideal is a full sibling to Enhance The Night ($561,117), Ideal Nectarine ($607,445), Ideal Danny ($424,998), Ideal Ike ($129,143), Ideal Ginny ($135,809) and Ideal Helen ($194,060). He is also a half-brother to Tommy’s Luck (Camluck, $200,125).

Chris Gooden photo

Ideal Jimmy won five of his 10 starts as a freshman, with earnings of $293,185.

Conditioned by Erv Miller, who also trained his older sisters Ideal Nectarine, Ideal Ginny and Ideal Helen, Ideal Jimmy demonstrated he was just as talented as the rest of the family by capturing his debut in a $30,000 Pennsylvania All-Stars contest at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono on July 3.

In his next two events, which were in Pennsylvania Sire Stakes company, the gelding came home fourth, before the hitting the winner’s circle in a $23,990 division of the Arden Downs on Aug. 1 at The Meadows and in a $28,942 division of the Tompkins-Geers at Tioga Downs on Aug. 9.

Ideal Jimmy was second at Harrah’s Philadelphia in PASS company on Aug. 20 and had his picture taken in a $71,114 Sire Stake at The Meadows on Sept. 1. That race proved to be the perfect prep for the $350,000 final which the gelding annexed very impressively on Sept. 11. After a trip where regular pilot Marcus Miller encountered all kinds of traffic, Ideal Jimmy looked to have no chance at the top of the lane, but with a very powerful turn of foot he reeled in world champion Spider Man Hanover with the greatest of ease.

“He’s so little that when he won that $71,000 Sire Stake at the Meadows I thought he had broke,” Van Witzenburg said. “We took the hood on and off him throughout the season and there were times we did that and that was the result. I thought since I couldn’t see him coming around the last turn he was far back, but then all of a sudden I saw him spurt out to the lead and he just kept going. I thought to myself, ‘That little horse just went and won himself a nice race.’”

Miller had his doubts about how Ideal Jimmy would perform while he was training down.

“He really does not have much size to him at all,” he said. “He just looked so different from the rest of them, as this mare always had foals with some scope and range. When we got him down to about 2:01 though we knew we had one on our hands with ability. He’s tiny but he has a long, gliding, beautiful stride to him and he has so much heart. He’s so willing and you can do anything with him. He is a very good racehorse.”

Ideal Jimmy finished his freshman campaign with a second in a $35,000 division of the Liberty Bell at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Sept. 24 and a third in a $36,400 division of the Keystone Classic at The Meadows on Oct. 2.

He is currently back in training and is being aimed toward another season in Pennsylvania.

“We did not really know what to think of him at the beginning of the year, so we really did not stake him to hardly anything,” Miller said. “That’s why we just stopped on him for the rest of the year and gave him some time to grow. He’s training great right now and although he has not grown taller, he has gotten stouter. We are looking forward to racing him this year and seeing how well he does.”

Witzenburg has been in the business for five decades and considers himself very fortunate with the horses he has owned.

“The first horse I bought in on, Real Speed, won more than $400,000 and we got to travel all over the country with him,” he said. “The next horse I got was Cumberland and he wasn’t a stakes horse, but I felt like a champion just watching him win at the fairs. After those two I was hooked.

“I was so lucky to get this mare (Armbro Nectarine). In fact, when I went to pick her up at Hanover Shoe Farm I couldn’t take her because she started foaling right when we were getting ready to load her in the truck. They allowed me to just board her there.

“Jimmy has already won (nearly) $300,000 and we think he has more to show us. There’s not a lot of people that have been as lucky as I have.”

Despite the goal being to defend his Sire Stakes crown, Miller does not rule out other stakes appearances for Ideal Jimmy.

“Pennsylvania is definitely our focus,” he said. “But I would not rule out supplementing him to a race like the Breeders Crown if the horse is doing well and does all season. He will have to earn it, but I think he’s capable of doing that. He is better than his older sisters, not that they were not talented, but he has such a terrific attitude and always has. That is what sets him apart from the rest of the family. He may be small, but that heart makes up for his lack of size.”